Salvage drums are used to ship and store industrial drums containing solvents and the like and are generally of a size such that the contents of the industrial drum will be retained in the salvage drum upon spillage or leakage. Various sealed salvage drums, and containers, which may be made of polyethylene, are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,258; U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,833; U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,083; U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,076; U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,133 which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,958.
For use as a salvage drum, a container must conform to the strict requirements of the United States Department of Transportation, and pass tests such as drop tests and internal pressure tests, while maintaining a seal of the container, and stacking tests, which require a bottom sealed container to retain its seal when other sealed containers are stacked thereon. In one top corner drop test, a loaded, sealed container is dropped on an angle (about 70.degree.) from a height onto the floor so that the upper corner of the container will impact with the floor and the salvage drum must remain sealed after such a drop. The corner drop test is a difficult test which must be passed in order to qualify for Department of Transportation clearance whether threaded lids are used or whether a clamp is used to secure a lid to a container body. Where a clamp is used, for example, impact of the clamp with the ground can cause damage to the clamp and result in leakage from a sealed salvage drum. An internal pressure test which must be passed in order to qualify a container as a salvage drum or overpack container requires that the lid retain a seal with the container body when an internal pressure of at least 3 pounds per square inch is present in the sealed container. In some containers where a seal is provided at the top of the container wall with a clamped lid, the lid will tend to deflect upon a buildup of internal pressure and bulges to an extent which causes a break in the seal between the container body and a lid.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a salvage drum having a lid secured to a container body by a clamp where the clamp is protected from direct impact with the ground upon tipping or dropping of the salvage drum so as to maintain the salvage drum in a sealed condition.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a salvage drum having a container body and lid sealed together by a band clamp which will retain a seal therebetween at an internal pressure of above three pounds per square inch.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a salvage drum having a lid secured to a container body by a clamp where the clamp may be held on the container body before use in clamping the lid and container body together to prevent damage or loss of the clamp.